It was one of the strangest but most fun trips of my life. A very unexpected and completely unplanned trip. Norway is a northern, Scandinavian country, quite cold and expensive, with fabulous wooden houses, many lakes and pristine nature.
A polar night when the sun doesn't rise all day for more than two months, searching for and observing the Northern Lights, the Arctic region on top of Norway, and at least three first times in my life - all this fit into three days of travel.
The Norwegian city of Tromso is located outside the polar circle, but its location is such that the winters here are not so frosty and the sea does not freeze.
Tromso is a small town outside the Arctic Circle with a population of about 50,000 inhabitants and stunning nature around - bays, snow-covered fjords, ships and yachts on the docks. Clear starry sky. There is light for two hours a day - somewhere from 11 to 13, all the rest of the time - either dusk or darkness - unusual. Water around the land is not frozen - close to the Gulf Stream. The water surface is calm, without waves - it's like a dark mirror, very beautiful. The best place on the globe for observing the Northern Lights, as claimed by the Internet - is exactly Tromso.
Also, in Norway, you can safely drink water from the tap - in Tromsø, it is from glaciers and is very delicious. Norwegians decorate their homes very lovingly for Christmas, every house is different and very beautiful, you can walk and love for hours. Traditionally, there are no curtains in the windows, so you can admire what's going on inside.
And finally - the trip to meet the northern lights! We were lucky! We were in the right places a couple of times, and each time the sky lit up with shades of green and yellowish, and it was insanely beautiful, like a draping fabric on a black background - the folds of the world in the starry sky, it captured the spirit!
The aurora boreale can appear every day from 20:00 to 01:00, it can appear in a clear sky, last for 10-15 minutes and disappear, but after an hour another one can form. Emotional to tears moment watching the dancing aurora. That's why we started to chase them. It's something unreal, very magically beautiful. Is the polar night tiring? I answer yes, but the long winters are more tiring there.
I also want to mention the smallest bar in the world, which is called Raketten Bar & Polse. It's hard to believe, but that's what the locals say. There are bonfires burning in the hall, where the locals meet and warm themselves, they also eat and drink tea or hot wine there, We ate some hot dog with beetroot, we drink mulled wine with nuts and raisins. After a trip to the forest where we were catching an aurora, we liked this hot food.
I have tried many places to stay, but Ice Dome was still surprising. I stayed in an ice hotel for the first time. And I think the last one. But let me to tell you about everything from the beginning.
The 600-square-meter hotel in the Norwegian North is rebuilt every year because the ice melts in the summer. It has a bar, a theater, a restaurant and seven rooms. The temperature is maintained at -5 degrees, so sleeping with suitcases or even water bottles near the bed is forbidden. The water will just freeze. You also need to change your shoes to the ones provided by the hotel.
Near the hotel you will find a warm house for things, a shower, a toilet and the opportunity to change clothes and warm up yourself before going to the bed.
We were six people who spent the whole night in the rooms, we were taken care of by two employees, who in every way - with advice and psychologically - prepared us for the night. People sleep in ice beds with real soft mattresses, on deer fur. You are wrapping up in sleeping bags, which are suitable for overnight stays even at 18 degrees Celsius. Next to it is a particularly warm "emergency" room with beds and bedding, unlocked 24/7.
It was strange to sleep there. My body was not feeling cold at all, the bed was soft, but after all, I only slept for two of the 6 hours I spent in the room (00:00 to 06:30). I am a warm-loving person, so the constant freezing face and running nose sticking out of my sleeping bag was why it was difficult to fall asleep. Or maybe I was too excited?
Finally, I got chilly in the morning because the top of my sleeping bag fogged over my head. I don't have much experience with sleeping pills, so maybe that was partly my fault.
Unfortunately, the hotel is beautiful only in winter, in spring the ice melts, and by winter it freezes again, which is why every year the hotel has a different design, and a different decor with furniture. Nature itself decorates it so beautifully that being there, you feel like you are in a snow castle from the fairy tale of the Snow Queen.
Nevertheless, it was the most unique overnight stay of my life, surrounded by additional experiences before and after sleep. I'm talking about snowshoeing, bonfires in nature, delicious dinners and interesting stories. I will never forget this. And I thank my friends from Tromso, who invited us on this fun trip with new experiences.
Well, I tried skating with dogs for the first time. before agreeing to skate, I read a lot and was interested in whether the dogs are not harmed, whether it is not too difficult for them. Norway is really very protective of animals.
The dogs are all huskies. They like to run very much, and running like this is fun for them, not martyrdom. They are perfecty cared out. The family with whom we went on the trip takes great care of them, makes sure that the sled and the like are not too full.
We stopped for a while in one hut, where it turns out we could eat. We got cocoa, soup, cake and some meat.
So, these were my first three times, which I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Norway is a country with an extraordinary beauty where you feel all the power of nature. Majestic, peaceful nature will not leave anyone indifferent!
Emotions just ran high. I have never seen such magnificent natural beauty. Like I fell on another planet.
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Thank you for reading. You are always welcome to check my posts.
All photos are original.
"Do what is right, mot what is easy nor what is popular" - R. T. BENNETH.
